Yamaha introduced the original YZF-R1 in 1998. Helped along by Valentino Rossi and Team Blue’s MotoGP accomplishments throughout the aughts, the superbike gained a faithful following over the past 25 years. Yamaha hasn’t revealed any plans to commemorate that quarter-century milestone but it doesn’t stop media outlets from prognosticating.
Chief among the speculators is Japan’s Young Machine. The publication certainly boasts a winning record, with many of its reported “rumors” coming to fruition. In Young Machine’s October 2022 issue, the outlet runs with the R1’s 25th-anniversary idea and imagines all the possibilities with a digital render.
